Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Spritz and Splatter Art Journals using Whimsy Stamps' Boho Rainbow Dies

Spritz and Splatter is this week's theme over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.  I do love to get messy in the craft room...unless I'm wearing a new white shirt (note to self: do not do this).  I decided to make two art journals using Whimsy Stamps' fabulous Boho Rainbow die set.

I made the background by squirting dabs of acrylic paint onto my paper and then splattering on a bunch of water and moving around the paint with brushes so that it acts sort of like watercolors.

While that was drying, I cut out and painted some of these gorgeous arches from the Boho Rainbow die set.

I glued the arches to the background paper, like so, and then tore my paper in half.  Then I scribbled around the arches with a pencil (cause if you're getting spritzy and splattery, you might as well throw some scribbly in there, too).

I smeared on some white to tone down the colors, which I thought were a little too salmon-forward.  Then I added in other colors of acrylic paint and reached for the real watercolors.  I painted some watery greens into the mix and then I did more scribbling with Dina Wakley's Scribble Sticks.  The colors look brighter here than they actually were due to a late night and weird camera light tricks.

But what to do with these little creations?  I had to sleep on that.  The next day, I decided to make them into mini art journals because I think we all know I'm addicted to notebooks, journals, and any other sort of thing that has covers and pages.  So I glued these onto some Kraft Heavystock.  I also added more splatter with some Dina Wakley Gloss Spray.

I started ripping up some scrap papers for the pages and bound them inside the covers.  Then I added some sentiments to the front that were courtesy of Dina Wakley's ledger paper.  She's got some great quotes in there!  Since these babies were pretty hefty with all the paper I put inside them, I had to tie them closed with some fabric ribbon that I sewed together.

And if you're curious about the insides, here's a little peek:

I quite enjoyed this project because I firmly believe you can never have too many notebooks or sketchbooks or journals or books in general really.

Here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

• Whimsy Stamps Boho Rainbow Die Set
• Dina Wakley Ledger Sheets, Set 1
• Ranger Kraft Heavystock
• Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks
• Watercolors
• Dina Wakley Night Gloss Spray
• Dina Wakley Acrylic Paint: White, Olive, Sage, Blushing, Rouge, Turquoise, Sky, Ocean
• Dylusions Acrylic Paint: Pure Sunshine
• Sizzix Big Shot
• Crop-A-Dile
• UHU Glue Stick

What will you spritz and splatter this week?  Upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog to inspire others and have a chance at winning a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp Store.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Happy Birthday Card using Dina Wakley's Alpha Blocks Stamps, Collage Collective and Simon Says Stamp's Time to Party Stamps

Happy Birthday to Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenges (and Happy Birthday is also this week's theme)!  We are celebrating 12 years of Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenges and that is a wonderful milestone.  These challenges have inspired me and have helped me to push through and keep trying to create even when I haven't felt inspired, so I'm very grateful for them.  We are also featuring one of my favorite designers: Dina Wakley.  You do not have to ask me twice to whip out my Dina supplies!

I started with a piece of paper from the Dina Wakley Collage Collective.  I like to use pre-printed paper or artwork images to get the creative juices flowing.  It's easier to have something on the page than starting from scratch sometimes.  So I found this Dina drawing and added more paint and some black scribbles using her Scribble Sticks.

While that dried, I smeared some paint onto a piece of white cardstock and used a small circle punch to punch circles out of it-- kind of like colorful Swiss cheese.  I tore it into a strip and glued it to the bottom of my card.  

Next I tore off some strips of Dina's ledger paper and glued them to the top of my card.  I stamped some letters from Dina's Alpha Blocks stamp set that spelled out "you" and glued them onto the background.  Then, using another piece of ledger paper, I stamped the sentiment, "Let's celebrate your existence", from Simon Says Stamp's Time to Party stamp set.  I cut around it and glued that on as the final piece.

Here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

• Dina Wakley Collage Collective 2, Volume 1
• Dina Wakley Alpha Blocks Stamp Set
• Simon Says Stamp Time to Party Stamp Set
• Dina Wakley Ledger Paper, Set 2
• Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks, Set 1
• Dina Wakley Acrylic Paint: White, Lime, Night, Olive, Tangelo, Lemon
• Dylusions Acrylic Paint: Tropical Sangria
• Distress Ink: Chipped Sapphire, Ground Espresso

What birthday creations will you make this week?  Upload your projects to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a special Simon birthday celebration edition $50 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Back to School Card using Mama Elephant's Oh Hi Loopy Die Set and Dina Wakley's Block Alphas Stamp Set

Back to School is this week's theme over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.  I've been a kid, I've been a teacher and I've been a parent and I have to say that back to school time is my favorite as a parent!  I decided to make a card in honor of this wonderful return to academia.

I started with some patterned paper (Simple Stories Vintage Lemon Twist and Dina Wakley ledger sheets) and Mama Elephant's Oh Hi Loopy die set.

I assembled what I had so far, dabbed on some white paint, then decided to add a few more layers of patterned paper (Market Square and Color Study).  I taped the paper together and ran it through my die-cutter again, then glued it to the bottom of the loopy opening.  In retrospect, it would've been easier to make my paper collage and then die-cut the whole thing just once, but hindsight is 20/20 and I wasn't sure where I was going with the card at first.

I glued my colored portions down and added some washi tape and some paint in various colors.  Then I stamped and cut out the word "Learn" using Dina Wakley's Alpha Blocks stamp set.  I also cut a notebook edge using an Altenew die.  Once I had all the elements, I glued it together and my card was done.

Here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

• Mama Elephant Oh Hi Loopy Die Set
• Simple Stories Vintage Lemon Twist Paper
• Dina Wakley Ledger Sheets, Set 2
• Vicki Boutin Color Study Paper
• Maggie Holmes Market Square Paper
• Ranger Archival Ink: Chrome Yellow
• Altenew Notebook Die
• Dina Block Alphas Stamp Set
• UHU Glue Stick
• Dina Wakley Paint: White, Olive, Lime, Turquoise
• Dylusions Paint: Pure Sunshine, Strawberry Daiquiri

Let us see your back to school projects!  Upload them to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!

And don't forget to have those wonderful kiddos in your life participate in the Kid's Summer Vacation Challenge!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Let's Go On Vacation Notebook Cover using Sizzix Specimen Dies

When I was a little kid, my dad would have our vacation photos developed into slides.  We loved watching those slide shows!  I can still almost hear the soft whirrrrrr of the slide projector in our darkened front room as the show began.  The slides would jam every now and again, but dad could always troubleshoot that system back into full functionality in no time!  Say what you will about modern technology, but nothing beat those slide shows.  With slides as my inspiration, I incorporated a slide die shape and the word "remember" on a notebook cover for this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme of "Let's Go On Vacation."

I started by squirting small dots of acrylic paint onto my page, then smooshing and moving the paint around with a bunch of water and a paint brush. 

After that layer dried, I added some more paint and then did some scribbly-doodling with Scribble Sticks and Distress Crayons.

More color!  I repeated the process, adding in different smears of acrylic paint and even drizzled on some watercolors and did more sketching.

Once the page was dry, I cut part of my painted paper to fit the cover of the notebook.  I flicked on some of Dina Wakley's Night Gloss Spray.  I also die-cut the slide shape and stenciled some polka dots onto another piece of paper.  I used a scrap of leftover text paper that I'd stamped for last week's project.

I stamped some black marks onto my cover page (X's and dot things) and then it was time to assemble.  I sewed the cover to the notebook and glued on the other elements.  I added some hand-cut scallop shapes to the top of my slide folder and this little notebook was done!

Here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

• Sizzix Specimen Dies
• Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks
• Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks 2
• Prima Watercolors
• Distress Crayon: Salvaged Patina
• Tim Holtz Media Marks 1 Stamp Set
• Tim Holtz Media Marks 2 Stamp Set
• Tim Holtz Chitchat Stickers
• Tim Holtz Dotted Stencil
• Dina Wakley Paint: White, Ruby, Blushing, Tangelo, Sky, Peacock
• Distress Paint: Salvaged Patina, Kitsch Flamingo
• Dylusions Paint: Pure Sunshine
• Dina Wakley Gloss Spray: Night
• Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink
• Acrylic Block
• UHU Glue Stick

Upload your wonderful vacation-inspired creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.

And don't forget to have those cute kiddos in your life participate in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge's Summer Vacation Kid's Challenge!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Fabulous Florals Tag using Carabelle Studio's Colorful Life Stamp Set

Welcome to another week and another Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!  This week's theme is Fabulous Florals.  I made a tag using Carabelle Studio's Colorful Life stamp set (designed by the talented Birgit Koopsen).

I started with Distress Kraft Heavystock and cut out a tag shape using a Sizzix Tag Collection die and my Sizzix Big Shot.  I glued some paper to the front (Family Fun by Simple Stories) and threw in some washi tape, though the tape totally gets covered up by the end of this project.

I slathered on some white paint (you know how I do) and stenciled some blue dots onto the tag using Tim Holtz's Dotted stencil and London Blue paint.

Bring on the color!  I scribbled a circle using Dina Wakley's Scribble Sticks, then colored in and around the circle with various colors of acrylic paint.  I also stamped some text on a piece of scrap paper (the text is from Tim Holtz's Theories stamp set) and cut it into a circle-frame shape.  I also stamped and cut out the artistic branch/foliage/flower stem shape from the Colorful Life stamp set.  I added paint to the branch.  I also ripped out a number and colored that as well.

That left the assembling!  I got out the UHU glue stick and went to work.  Once it was glued down, I added some more paint around the edges and this tag was done.

Here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

• Carabelle Studio Colorful Life Stamp Set
• Distress Kraft Heavystock
• Sizzix Tag Collection
• Sizzix Big Shot
• Simple Stories Family Fun Paper
• Tim Holtz Dotted Stencil
• Dina Wakley Paint: White, Olive, Lime, Night, Sky, Turquoise
• Dylusions Paint: London Blue, Polished Jade
• Tim Holtz Theories Stamp Set
• Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink
• Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks
• UHU Glue Stick

What fabulous floral creation will you make this week?  Upload your project to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.

And don't forget to encourage the kiddos to enter the Kids Vacation Challenge!